Scottish Government

ANNEX B: Examples

1. Young Angus Citizens' Panel

Successful planning initiatives for the wider community can be built on by recognising that children and young people react positively when asked directly for their input, as happened in Angus:

Launched in autumn 2003, the Young Angus Citizens' Panel is designed to give 12 to 16 year olds a say on issues that are important to them. Like the main panel, set up three years previously, it is representative of the young people of Angus in terms of age, sex, etc.

Activity: Publicised through the region's Dialogue Youth website, postcard drops and notice boards in schools, potential members were asked to fill in a short application form - which can also be downloaded from the region's website. Members are sent short surveys, at regular intervals, covering Community Planning themes of interest to children and young people such as safety and the economy.

Lessons:

• The initial idea of including an older group (18 to 25 year olds) was soon dropped due to feedback which revealed that this age group felt they had more in common with the main panel, to which they were added.
• Notices in libraries, newspaper ads and press releases were less successful than the school-based approach which attracted the younger members, so other initiatives were employed to consult with the older age group.
• Lengthy surveys using numerous sheets of paper and involving complicated methodology were dropped in favour of shorter versions taking up no more than two sides of A4.
• Monitoring of the adult survey showed that it took a number of years for the concept to be taken on board as a useful tool by other departments within the authority. The junior survey has followed a similar timeline with issues raised - such as bullying and provision of water in schools - starting to be pushed forward now.
• Recent survey questions regarding the under-age purchasing of spray paints, for example, have helped to focus testing for the authority's trading standards team.
• As respondents became accustomed to participation, their comments have guided development of the initiative. The early surveys were printed in full colour on high quality paper but feedback revealed that people were happier with a mono version on lower grade paper - and that some would prefer it sent in electronic format - these changes have resulted in better value for money.
• Projects like this, with a set age group, mean that new children and young people must be attracted to join the panel as older members move on. This involves continued effort in advertising the project and encouraging new panellists to respond.

For more information contact: David Richards, Angus Council - richardsd@angus.gov.uk , Telephone 01307 473789.

2. Integrated Children's Services Planning - Highland

Highland was a pilot area for Integrated Children's Services Planning through the Council's Joint Committee on Children and Young People.

Highland's CPP - the Wellbeing Alliance - has a strong commitment to engagement with children and young people, core mechanisms include Highland Youth Voice, youth forums and pupil council structures.

Activity: Children and young people were involved throughout the planning process. This ranged from meetings with specialist groups such as looked after young people and young people with additional support needs, to contact with key intermediaries such as the children's rights officer, youth development staff and voluntary organisations including Barnardo's, NCH Scotland, Who Cares? Young Carers Project and Highland Children's Forum. Discussions were also held with the Executive of Highland Youth Voice, including a session at their annual summer conference. School and community learning staff, social work and health practitioners also take on direct and supporting roles.

Lessons:

• Involving children and young people in a meaningful way in a high level planning process is challenging.
• The Community Planning ethos, local joint planning structures across Highland and the commitment of staff resources are essential pre-requisites.
• The Integrated Children's Services Plan encompasses Highland's strategic direction for youth work and engagement of young people. This needs to be translated for more focused dialogue and marketing with young people, development staff and practitioners.
• A real culture shift has occurred in Highland. Key agencies now pro-actively seek out youth involvement through the supported youth participation mechanisms - for example, direct consultation on the development of the Sexual Health Strategy.
• There is a necessity to manage expectations. Young people's agendas often relate to issues such as the need for more facilities, cheaper access to facilities and better transport. In many cases, these cannot be fixed in the short term - young people may have grown up before experiencing tangible benefits.
• There has also been significant progress in addressing smaller or more local issues directly relevant to children and young people through a system of Children's Champions. These are Elected Members who can engage directly with local children and young people and respond to issues they raise - for example, school meals, facilities and transport.

To find out more about Highland's Integrated Children's Service Strategy, contact Pablo Mascarenhas (Highland Council) at pablo.mascarenhas@highland.gov.uk or Colin Macaulay (Highland Council) at colin.macaulay@highland.gov.uk .

3. Involving children and young people in strategic level decision-making - Youngedinburgh is the city's ground-breaking youth services strategy. It reflects a commitment by the City of Edinburgh Council and its Community Planning partners - including young people - to the improvement of services for all young people aged 11 to 21 years.

Activity: Young people are central to the development of Youngedinburgh through their participation in the Viewfinder 2 study - 5,728 young people completed questionnaires - and through ongoing involvement in planning and prioritising of objectives. A key feature of the approach taken is the recognition of young people as equal partners with decision-makers such as elected councillors, officials from the City of Edinburgh Council and Community Planning partners - Lothian and Borders Police, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh Leisure, Edinburgh Young Scot, the voluntary sector and many others.

The Youth Services Advisory Committee ( YSAC) which oversees the strategic direction of Youngedinburgh is a unique committee of the Council in that it comprises cross-party political representation, nominated representatives from partner agencies and an equal representation of young people's representatives. Young people play a full part in strategic level decisions on the overall content and focus of the strategy including budget allocations and emerging priorities. YSAC is also recognised as a strategic partnership within the Edinburgh Partnership - the body with overall responsibility for Community Planning in the city.

In January 2005, an historic full City of Edinburgh Council meeting was held on an agenda set by young people - a first for a Scottish council. Young people's representatives delivered presentations to councillors and took part in discussions on an equal basis with councillors. A similar meeting will be held each year.

Lessons:

Much has been achieved since the launch of Youngedinburgh in 2003. For example dedicated youth programmes have been extended at leisure centres, support and advice has been enhanced for young tenants, £50,000 has been awarded to student councils in schools. In 2005, a new young people's consumer advocacy service was established and new opportunities for work experience placements were created.

The culture of the city with regard to young people is changing. They are now routinely being asked for their views where they were never consulted before, from proposed changes in the health service to arrangements for Community Planning locally.

There remains a great deal to be done and the Youngedinburgh strategy 2006-10 sets out plans over the next four years. Commitments are deliberately aspirational - aiming to see real changes in the lives of real young people and, as a result, for the city as a whole.

For further information see www.youngedinburgh.org .

4. North Ayrshire Council Social Services and Playback - Transition into Adulthood. A consultation process actively involving and empowering young people with disabilities in freely expressing their views, opinions, hopes and fears for the future.

Transition into Adulthood - All young people, irrespective of their abilities or circumstances find the transition into adulthood a demanding and emotional experience. It needs to be recognised that this transitional period is far more difficult and emotionally demanding for a young disabled person and their parents/carers as they encounter additional decisions and barriers that generally limit their choices to live an independent adult life.

Activity: Based on their experience in consulting and supporting young people with disabilities and their parents/carers, Playback was invited by North Ayrshire Social Services to consult with a group of young people with disabilities and their parents about current issues facing them in the transition into adulthood stage. It was agreed that Playback should develop a programme of consultation that actively involved young people in developing, through media, a visual expression of their hopes and concerns for the future. A video record of the consultation process and a presentation video were produced. Both parents and young people had the opportunity to express their views, concerns and experiences directly to camera, with young people being encouraged and supported to develop individual scenes and scenarios based on their experiences and reflecting their key concerns.

Overall the broad aims of the consultation were:

• To provide opportunities for parents and young people with disabilities to freely express their views and opinions
• To identify and highlight the key areas/issues of concern in the transition service provision
• To provide information to inform the development/improvement of future social service provision in the transition to adulthood services and the Children's Services Plan.

Lessons:

The core message that emerged from the young people's discussion related to Person Centred Planning. It was evident that they wanted to be seen, respected, valued and supported as an individual. Service provision and the care package needs to be appropriate to their individual needs, not just about basics such as feeding but about the whole person: their physical, emotional and social well-being. The findings suggest that the young people need and want service providers to adopt a holistic approach to planning, provision and delivery of services.

The most positive outcome from this process was how empowered the young people became. They really engaged in the tasks, felt at ease in both group and individual activities, were able to express and debate issues openly and were confident enough to challenge ideas. They were able to praise their own achievements and to critically evaluate their own contribution. The process has enabled them to isolate their main concerns, what it is they want to do, and what will help them achieve it.

5. South Lanarkshire Youth Partnership - Developing Leisure Facilities

Engaging with children and young people regarding activities in which they keenly participate, particularly in popular leisure pursuits, can be a good way of introducing them to engagement on wider issues.

Through South Lanarkshire's own Youth Learning Services a partnership - South Lanarkshire Youth Partnership - was formed to look at what young people want from their community. This group consults through the local Young Scot website and Active Break Workers - who go into schools to talk with young people during break times, including looked after children and young gypsy travellers.

Activity: Three years ago the message coming through was that children and young people wanted to have leisure facilities - primarily skate parks - closer to home, avoiding the need for difficult and expensive travel to those outwith their rural area. As a result, three skate parks were developed - in Blantyre, Carluke and East Kilbride - each employing different mechanisms and with varying outcomes.

Lessons:

• In Blantyre, young people were involved from the start in planning the facility, how it would look, what would be attractive to their peers, the lighting and its wider use for BMX bikes and in-line skates.
• The Carluke facility saw young people raise almost £25,000 themselves towards the facility through events such as band nights. They formulated and made their own bids to partners, making the case that if they had a skate park of their own, perhaps they wouldn't be perceived as a nuisance in neighbourhood areas.
• In East Kilbride, meanwhile, the children and young people were not as involved in the development of their skate park, which has seen a lower volume of use than expected and is now undergoing redevelopment. Learning from this, young people have been more involved in the planning and reconstruction of the park, with the aim that the end result will be what they really want from the facility, providing better value.
• The RADWORX Extreme Sports project was piloted in 2004 by South Lanarkshire Youth Learning Services, supported by Blantyre and North Hamilton SIP. It focuses around the newly established skate parks and offers free lessons and use of equipment at a variety of levels in skateboarding, BMXing and in-line skating for children and young people. The six week summer programme includes special events and professional demonstrations and last year attracted over 400 youngsters. This has led to training opportunities for some of the young people involved.
• "The skate parks are busy all the time. And when the parks are not there, they're missed." During the reconstruction of the East Kilbride facility, young people were bussed to other skate parks. This has led to young people being represented on the Council's transport forum, children and young people being able to access the dial-a-bus service and, through listening to their views, the Council providing bus services for young people involved in other leisure activities.

For further information contact South Lanarkshire Council on 01698-457392.

6. Argyll & Bute Young Scot Dialogue Youth Unit

More remote rural areas often require a strategic but less mainstream approach, joining up with a variety of partners in innovative ways to cover the wider geographical and cultural spread.

The Argyll & Bute Young Scot Dialogue Youth Unit provides a focal point for youth issues in the area and currently supports over 10,000 young people throughout the region.

Activity: The Project Co-ordinator is based in Lochgilphead and supports six bases - in Oban, Campbeltown, Rothesay, Islay, Helensburgh and Dunoon. Each base has its own youth worker actively involved in recruiting young people, supporting youth groups, and marketing and promoting Young Scot and Dialogue Youth. The Unit ensures that priorities identified by children and young people get a fair hearing within the council and the CPP and is used to inform how services are delivered by the Council and other partner agencies. It also aims to increase the number of young people who are actively consulted on decisions in their local communities, using the Young Scot website, posters, youth forum, video conferencing and text messaging.

Lessons:

Action plans and activity have centred on the main areas of leisure, health, transport, lifelong learning, employment and housing:

• The annual conference and report informs all parties of the real value of involving children and young people. The 2002 conference was both a critical view of the project and highly entertaining for young delegates and agency attendees. Council and health service representatives led feedback sessions on the key actions which the project delivered in its first year including discounts at council swimming pools, discounted air travel with Loganair and an increase in confidential health advice through the Young Scot website and health drop-ins.
• It can be helpful in simple, practical ways. With assistance from Trading Standards, NHS Argyll and other partners, the Argyll & Bute Young Scot Licensee Pack was introduced in 2003, and hand delivered to licensees by members of Strathclyde Police. This aimed to increase awareness of the Argyll & Bute Young Scot card as proof of age. A follow-up survey found that a fifth of card holders did use their card for this purpose.
• Broadening the use of technology promotes inclusion. With many remote areas and islands in Argyll & Bute, facilities such as video conferencing have been used to include more children and young people in, for example, youth forum meetings.
• At an International Rural Network Conference, held in Inverness, Young Scot volunteers led a workshop presentation looking at ways young people can help contribute to the sustainability of rural communities.

www.dialogueyouth.org/whatson/index.asp?a=article&id=5&articleID=118&sectionID=28

7. Antisocial Behaviour Strategy Development in Dundee

Under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, Local Authorities and Chief Constables have a duty to consult young people in the development of Antisocial Behaviour Strategies.

Approaches involving young people talking to each other can highlight areas that may not register when young people discuss community issues with older adults.

As part of Antisocial Behaviour Strategy Development in Dundee, for example, Tayside Police, the local authority and other interested parties ran a parallel youth conference to their own group discussions.

Activity: The young people joined the main event to hear various speakers' input then broke off to hold their own discussions in a plenary session.

• During their event, the young people conceived and acted out a related drama which they filmed for a DVD. This was then shown to the delegates at the main conference later in the day. This proved a very effective way of involving young people and getting their perspectives.
• The children and young people who took part were among those who youth workers were in contact with, so the organisers knew they would be 'hitting the appropriate market'.
• The involvement which the young people had in both the plenary session and the dramatic production was seen to have quite an impact on the other partners as it was both powerful and positive, and has been viewed as an approach which should be repeated.

For further information on the initiative, contact the Communities Department at Dundee City Council at www.dundeecity.gov.uk

8. Sauchie Community Green Map

Many areas have used innovative approaches in an effort to include children and young people often viewed as hard to reach.

The Sauchie Community Green Map is a community mapping initiative that promotes sustainable development at a grassroots level, linking the common ground that people share to produce a life map of the natural and cultural environment through the eyes of all members of its community.

Activity: Sauchie, in Clackmannanshire, was a pilot Green Map project in Scotland, initiated by the Clackmannanshire Voluntary Services Council ( CVSC) and sponsored through Challenge Unlimited. This charity, working to promote active citizenship in the young people of Clackmannanshire, is a partnership between Central Scotland Police, Clackmannanshire Council Children and Youth team, CVSC and young local residents.

With a focus on 'What works?' rather than 'What's the problem?', a series of workshops, one-to-one interviews and questionnaires sought to find out the positives about living in Sauchie with a view to producing a living map of the area. Young people were paired with retired residents as they discussed the area's existing assets, limitations and future possibilities across the generations while teenage girls from the local Dialogue Youth Oor Toon Project took part in a workshop covering similar issues.

Lessons:

A number of positives involving children and young people have already come from the initiative:

• young people, and the community as a whole, enjoyed the appreciative inquiry and small workshop style of engagement, particularly as they perceived an end result useful to the whole community - the Map!
• both young and old enjoyed the inter-generational dialogue which brought common issues to light. The community learning and development approach makes it an ideal tool for engaging children and young people in Community Planning
• production of the Green Map creates a tangible outcome for children and young people, which can be used to validate their community and help them express their hopes for future development
• the potential for linking local issues to a wider global initiative via the internet is an accessible and favoured option for children and young people
• it broadened the net for involvement to Sauchie's two schools, both of whom are currently involved in the Eco Schools award project
• in conjunction with Forth Valley Police, the project is including work around community safety and young people
• children and young people can become involved as the facilitators, not just the objects of research - for example, interviews were carried out by participants in Duke of Edinburgh Award schemes, as part of their challenge.

For more information contact Enid Trevett ( CVS Clackmannanshire) at Enid.Trevett@cvsclacks.org.uk and for further details on Green Mapping in general, log on to www.greenmap.org . To find out more about Eco Schools, access the website at www.eco-schools.org.uk .

9. Greater Easterhouse YouthBank

YouthBank is a youth participation model which builds on the skills, experience and knowledge of young people. All aspects of YouthBank are youth led; locally, regionally, nationally and at UK level.

Activity: In the spring of 2004, the Greater Easterhouse Social Inclusion Partnership manager attended a Scottish YouthBank networking meeting run by YouthLink Scotland and recognised the potential of YouthBank as an appropriate method of empowering young people in their area. During the spring and summer the Social Inclusion Partnership sourced funding to engage support staff and create the grant funding budget.

A part-time Youthbank support officer was recruited in December 2004 and along with the Youthbank development officer from YouthLink Scotland set about the recruitment and training of young people.

The Scottish YouthBank training event in January 2005 was used as a springboard to develop their action plan, to agree criteria and application processes.

Twelve young grant makers have met on a weekly basis to work towards their net grant award meeting. The young people design the application forms, set the decision-making process, assess the applications and inform the applicants of the outcome (including those who have not been successful). £3,000 has been distributed to eleven groups and 345 young people have directly benefited.

Lessons:

Youthbank is one element of the Greater Easterhouse empowerment strategy and the young people, local youth projects and community are all direct beneficiaries of the process. It impressed the local councillor and has led to three other areas of Glasgow applying to be licensed as Youthbanks. Young people involved in the YouthBank have become empowered decision makers effecting change and bringing resources in their local communities.

Through YouthBank training, young people have challenged their own attitudes and values to develop a strong understanding of equality and diversity, resulting in further funds being secured to diversify their grant scheme and encourage more applications. Ongoing recruitment is essential to the efficacy of any YouthBank. Knowledge gained through participation has increased confidence and encouraged further participation in wider community life. Members have gone from participants in training to facilitators of training for new recruits.

10. Barnardo's - Snakes and Ladders Game

The game creates a framework for decision-making for children and young people, tailored to the issue they are working on.

An experiential training package, based on the old favourite Snakes and Ladders, has become a widely used tool for direct work with children and young people including promoting their active involvement in staff training.

Activity: The package consists of a 10ft square board, based on the snakes and ladders format, with young people recreating the board to reflect the real life issues/experiences in their lives, e.g. life as a young carer. Positive experiences will lead players up a ladder while the negative experiences will result in players having to slide down the snakes. Once the young people are happy that the board reflects their real life experiences the training is then facilitated for a relevant agency, e.g. Social Work Department with staff playing the game.

The board also includes features such as an exclusion corner, where participants in the game can be sent at any time to reflect on feelings associated with exclusion. This fun, visual tool, which has been rolled out across the UK over the last four years, has been part of nearly 500 training sessions providing agencies working with an opportunity to learn directly from young people, identify gaps in service, explore attitudes and discover how professional practice could be improved. Children and young people are also involved in delivering snakes and ladders training sessions for their peers in a variety of community settings.

Lessons:

The Snakes and Ladders work has highlighted the need for agencies to understand the issues that young people identify as being important and has created opportunities for young people to play an active role in service/policy development. A key learning point has been the importance of effective communication in promoting the active involvement of children and young people.

For more information on the Snakes and Ladders package, contact Selwyn McCausland on 0141-222-4700 or by email - selwyn.mccausland@barnardos.org.uk

11. Dialogue Youth Health - East Renfrewshire

In East Renfrewshire, youth participation is viewed as a health improvement action and contributes to the work the local authority does in its role as a Health Improvement organisation.

The Patient Focus Public Involvement agenda of the NHS involves a duty on the NHS to seek the public's views from the earliest stages using modern means of communication and involvement to ensure the widest range of individuals and communities affected by change are reached.

Activity: In East Renfrewshire, Dialogue Youth is represented on the Children and Young People's Health Improvement group which is linked directly to the health theme of the Community Plan, the Joint Health Improvement Plan and the Children's Services Plan. Using the overarching aim of these plans as a starting point, workers from the Local Health Board, Social Work, Youth Services Team and Community Schools formed a Dialogue Youth Health network to actively encourage and support youth involvement in a variety of settings.

The network commissioned a Health Needs Assessment that was carried out in all secondary schools using the local Dialogue Youth website. The aim was to find a systematic way of reviewing the health issues facing young people and produce information that would lead to agreed priorities and allocation of resources amongst Community Planning partners. The needs assessment assisted partners to identify improvement actions, for young people, based on up to date survey results.

The Dialogue Youth Health network also commissioned external consultants to carry out a Patient Focus Public Involvement workshop which 70 young people participated in. This forum provided a place where young people had the opportunity to prioritise their health needs and highlight other issues in relation to access to health services, information and advice.

Lessons:

The use of on-line surveys, via the Dialogue Youth infrastructure, provided a method that young people were comfortable with and associated with confidentiality, which led to a high quality of information being produced. The survey was also made available on paper and young people participated in the survey during PSE classes. The results were collated by the Dialogue Youth resource base and distributed amongst partners.

This first step was a clear demonstration of East Renfrewshire Council and partner organisations' commitment to listen to young people, as stated in their Community Learning and Development strategy.

A significant outcome was the call from young people to have two places 'ring-fenced' for youth representatives on the Community Health Care Partnership Public Partnership Forum. As it was recognised that this would provide young people with an opportunity to influence structures for youth involvement and presented a perfect opportunity for youth participation to be a fundamental activity of the Community Health Care Partnership.

For the local Dialogue Youth contact in your area: www.dialogueyouth.org/contacts